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jarnold116
Reviews
Pam & Tommy (2022)
Stylish Dark Crime Comedy
Talk about crafting an amazing silk purse out of a sow's ear, I really found PAM & TOMMY (2022, HULU) a delightful piece of pulp (non)fiction. I find myself really appreciating films and TV series that weave, bob, and dodge standard-old-boring storytelling to tell compelling stories and this is surely that to me; I couldn't have cared less about vapid '80s celebs Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee - she as one of the more plastic Playboy Playmates, he as a drummer for a group that I never was even less interested in. Their sex tape and the sordid tale of its manufacture seemed of negligible interest to me.
Enter good writing, solid direction, and a marvelous cast and suddenly I found myself caring - for the first time ever - for this couple, for their adversaries, and about the incident itself. This is one of those watches that does not reveal itself fully in the first episode (primarily focused on Seth Rogen in a well-acted turn as the vengeance-driven carpenter that strikes the blow that sets the tale in motion) nor even in the second (set earlier in time, where we meet Pam and Tommy at the beginning of their lust-and-drug-fueled courtship); in the third episode, though, we start to see the principles in more context and, sonuvagun, we see them all as human beings with all the flaws and vulnerabilities attendant to said creatures.
It's all in the writing, the clever weaving of plot through time and place, and the superior performances that the series comes alive. When we first see Pamela Anderson, she appears facile and silly and false - the first twenty minutes of party-girl action were excruciating to me - but as we get context we begin to see the girl/woman behind her and it is a magical thing. Lily James brings great sweetness and sadness to the portrait and is fearless in the exhibition of her self (though the use of superb makeup appliances throughout is pretty amazing stuff on its own) and brings a great warmth to the character. Seth Rogen is amazingly unlike Seth Rogen and his New-Age-foolish carpenter is as sweet as he is stupid - I like him all right as a comedian but he really has maybe his best role here. In the most difficult role is Sebastian Stan as the chaotic Tommy Lee, certainly the biggest ***hole of the piece (which is saying something with some of the gangster types dotting the landscape here) but he works wonders to bring humanity to the Motley Crue drummer.
Abetted by an excellent supporting cast including Nick Offerman, Taylor Schilling, and Andrew Dice Clay (!), this trio turns what could have been a grotesque piece into something of a real modern tragedy, a deeply personal one that made me think about how we tend to dehumanize all celebrities and how disturbingly easy that is to do with the ones that we "don't like" for their behaviors or music or mode of dress. It's also a commentary on the excesses of wealth, the duality of the existence between the rich and the middle-class in this country, and the way that men and women are perceived differently in all matters of sexuality. The story never becomes mawkish, however, and it carries a dark comedy throughout and does eventually make one wonder at the ways of man, God, and karma.
That's all pretty spectacular for an eight episode series from HULU. Great stuff. Did I mention the talking p***s?
Chapelwaite (2021)
Excellent Re-Working of King's Lovecraftian Horror Tale
If you want something creepy and well-done for the October season, the EPIX series CHAPELWAITE, adapted from Stephen King's short story "Jerusalem's Lot" which owed more than a passing nod to H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhumythos, seems like a clear winner. I have been really impressed by the Gothic tone and historical feel of the entire series. It is filled with fine performances, particularly by Adrian Brody as a mariner doomed by his relationship to a cursed clan and Emily Hampshire ("local girl" Stevie Budd from the delightful SCHITT'S CREEK) as a plucky townsgirl that takes a job working with his family.
I won't reveal any more of the tale - screenwriter Jason Filardi has done a sturdy job of weaving elements of the King short story with other elements of King's oeuvre, including bits from SALEM'S LOT to the short-lived CASTLE ROCK series. While it is meditative in its early pacing, it reminds me favorably of films from the early Hammer Studios and their like, with nice character development and small bits of encroaching madness.
I'm only seven episodes into the series 10 episode run, so I have no idea whether the show will "stick the landing" but to me this seems the finest period horror piece on television since AMC's first season of THE TERROR. And that's high praise from me
An aside for comic book fans: Hugh Thompson, the actor playing Constable Dennison, looks insanely like a Richard Corben character come to life! Check it out and you'll see what I mean!
Wind Across the Everglades (1958)
Vibrant and Colorful
Strange pseudo-Western set in turn-of-the-century Florida, with Christopher Plummer as a seemingly half-crazed ornithologist going up against Burl Ives as a fully-crazed cottonmouth-snake-fondling swamp-god of the Everglades. Gypsy Rose Lee turns up as a whorehouse madame and Peter Falk stalks the sidelines in his first film appearance.
I stumbled onto Wind Across the Everglades playing on TCM; as a native Floridian, I just had to check it out. The film is undeniably entertaining but it is consistently undercut by strange dialog, uneven editing, and a plot where characters seem to meander aimlessly into and out of trouble. Plummer seems lost in his role, veering from composed and thoughtful to wild and unkempt again and again. Burl Ives fares better in his role as the grizzled poacher, though he isn't really given a lot to do.
The cinematography, too, is as uneven as the old "African safari" travelogues that intermix shots of the actor/s with assorted wildlife. I swear to God, when we got shots of egrets, alligators, ibis, a wood duck, and a freakin' sawfish all in the same montage, I just lost it. I mean, this is great stuff.
The strangest thing about all this hooey is that it is, in the end, really entertaining. While I wouldn't call it a "good" film, it holds up well against classics of "bad" cinema like Spider-Baby, Robot Monster, or any of Ed Wood's gems. This is a worthy cult film for any cinephile.